This is part of a letter I wrote in response to an old
gun-toting, Republican friend who had just sent an email suggesting
that I was a bit off my rocker, and being way too optomistic...and he
added: "Don't Drink the Kool-Aid!"

I am leaving out the very personal part of this letter that I wrote
in response to my high school friend who has been repeatedly sending
agressive messages and graphics denouncing our American president,
Muslims, and others.  I realized that each of us had been sending
the other our messages---I sending my own ideas about the loving
shift we are experiencing---but neither of us had really ever
responded to the other about these beliefs.  We were just sending
our own stuff.  And most of his stuff was angry.

He and I had lived through four years of  all-boys Catholic education
over 40 years ago.  Just previous to this exchange, I had sent a video
link that include a request that he summon the courage to watch the
video.  This aroused his ire, expressed in the first lines of his
reply, deleted here.
I invite your discussion in the comments section of this blog.
**************************************************************

Starting, I believe, sometime in August, a lot of shit is going to hit
the fan even harder than it has been: monetary system, geophysical
changes, government disclosures and religious scandal that will
decimate the Church....and undeniable evidence that will rock the
world.  We are moving beyond our stupidity. 

Collectively, we are reaching the point of being  fed up:

Fed up with how we are treated by our governments, fed up

with organized religion, and fed up with the basic way that

we have been treating ourselves and responding to the world.

In the meantime, I see so many people---including my old high school
and college friends---living as if everything is rosy and that the
insane world in which we live makes it acceptable to live life in a
way that is spiritually draining and consciousness deadening.
And so many are just avoiding life, trying to stuff the pain.  Our
friends (XX and YY) are literally eating themselves to death.......
using food for their fleeting comfort.  They don't want to be with life.

I see people leaning on religion in a way that just saps their power.
We all have a right to believe in the god of our choice, but it is sad
that religion as we know it, virtually all organized religion, is just
set up to make us weak.  Real religion unites and empowers people.
Big church religion divides, disempowers, and is fear  mongering.  Its
my passion to express these ideas in what I write.  More fully
integrating and sharing  them is what my life is all about.

And I generally don't waste my time expressing them personally to
anyone whom I do not sense may be somewhat receptive.  When I had a
little stretch of homelessness back in May, I had a talk with a
fundamentalist guy, a Baptist.  As we sat by the sea shore, it became
clear that the basis for his deciding his beliefs wasn't at all having
to do with verifiable facts, obvious realities, or internal guidance.
The number one criteria for all his spiritual beliefs was the Bible
and what his minister said.  The guidance of his own heart was never
mentioned.

So many do not trust themselves.

We--the world---are coming into a time when we are going to be
trusting ourselves more completely.  Where we don't think we need some
pompous religion to tell us what to believe spiritually, where we set
our own commandments because we trust ourselves.
We are learning that you do not fight fire with fire.  That love is
the intended response to everything we experience: we learn this as we
evolve.

Call me an altruist, but I believe that we are soon to become a world
in full harmony, willing and naturally able to respond to each other
and all experience with love.

Anger, fear, vengeance, remorse, guilt, and hopelessness are products
of our allegiance to blood-sucking government and spiritually stupid
religions.  That is just my truth, not a judgment but a simple
observation.  I honestly do not understand how anyone who is really
awake and has some level of intelligence can call themselves Catholic.
 No kidding.  I don't get it.  To me, that's like saying to yourself:
"I need someting outside myself to know what is spiritually right for
me.  I am too stupid or unworthy to trust myself to live in a
loving way that will not find me damned by God to an eternal frying
pan."
I  feel sad  in being so up-front about it, but that kind of thinking
feels like its just Homer Simpson-stupid.

If there was ANY hard evidence to back up the whole eternal damnation
thing, the unworthiness, the separation, all that.....then maybe I
could understand why so many people delude themselves with
Catholicism. Sure, there is some worthy content in the Bible, but the
Bible and most church teachings are full of guilt and fear mongering.
Its about people controlling the flock.  And there are a whole lot of
people who are acting like ignorant sheep in being a part of that
flock.

There IS plenty of evidence that the most empowering aspects of the
Bible have been ripped out of it over the centuries.  Just check out
the Gospel of Thomas, discovered with the other Dead Sea Scrolls.

And if there was any evidence that Mohammed was anything other than a
gangster, then I could understand what the Muslims believe.  But
there's nothing. The Muslim and the Catholic scriptures are just a
bunch of self-contradicting, fear-inducing content that is largely
lies or fiction.  There is nothing in the way of evidence to suggest
otherwise.  Nothing.

Some people have become so conditioned by their upbringing that they
believe a whole slew of lies that they call truth.  All based on
nothing that makes any sense to the heart.

We are soon to become a heart-based society.  Those who do not want to
join in that---those who cling to the old ways that do not work and
never have---will not make it.  If you cling to the vengeful,
kick-ass, get angry, get hopeless or get righeously guilty ways of
thinking, you will not survive the coming shift in their current
bodies.  They will be "left behind"  to reincarnate until they fully
discover and practice their loving natures.

There is no them.  It's all us.

And you can think that deluded or not, your choice, buddy.  I wouldnt
write this stuff if I didn't love you.  It has been quite a challenge
to me to live in this insane world and I have, at times, let it
depress me for long stretches.  I have lived most of my adult life
on the financial edge and have lived big chunks of time
isolated, alone.

That has pushed me to where I am now and I am OK with it.  Its good.
So that is my loving vent, -----.  I am moving along a path as best I
can. I intend to be of service to as many as I can. But I have no
attachment to your having any particular opinion or judgment about me.

And unless I hear another preference from you, will refrain from
sending anything spiritual to you in the future.  I now get that it
has not been welcome and am not attached to you being anything other
than who you want to be.

And I would also appreciate your taking me off your "Pissed Off at
Obama and the Muslims Email List".  Thank you.

Best to you and your family.

All Love,

Carlo

_________________________________________________________________

I present this without judgment: I am observing behavior rather than
suggesting someone is bad or evil. 

Consider: How might you have handled such a situation with someone
you care about but rarely connnect with? 

Does it ever serve you to be attached to changing someone else's
spiritual philosophy or religious outlook?

How do you know when to draw the line between being proactive in
sharing your truth and respecting others' right to live their own lives?

Is it your "job" to wake up others?

Here you will find a basic media kit that will answer many of your questions.  Carlo enjoys doing internet and standard radio interviews as well as group Pause Session Presentations. He lives in San Diego, California.

What makes Carlo Ami an interesting interview for radio, television or print media?

He brings a fresh perspective during these challenging times to the discussion of stress relief.

He has a unique, direct and calm approach to helping people with the challenges of life from the spiritual perspective.   As the challenges of depression and anxiety have reached new levels of challenge, he suggests going within oneself for solutions rather than on relying on external sources that often happen to be very counter-productive.  He teaches people how to trust their inner wisdom and their capacities for calm, happiness and love.  Over the last 11 years, he has developed the Pause Button System to help people gain further understanding and appreciation of their inner resources.  He is the author of two books, "All That Matters" and "The Wake Up Book".  He has also voiced, composed and produced the audio CD, "Quick Inner Retreats to Calm" which also makes use of the Pause Session method.

What is a Pause Session?

Pause sessions take a single belief statement or series of related beliefs and asks the reader to pause after each line to ponder the idea from the level of the heart.  In our information-overloaded society, it is important to pause and contemplate important ideas---particularly those that have to do with beliefs---in order to clarify what yours are.  Rather than present the beliefs in his books as truth or "dogma", Carlo encourages his readers to edit the lines in his Pause Sessions so that they fit the reader.  It may be a word or two changed in any given session statement, or it may be the entire basic idea that is changed.  The key to ensuring that the system benefits the reader is their willingness to be aware of how their life WILL teach them whether the belief is a spiritually, practically or emotionally effective in enhancing their life.

What are some of the more important points that he makes in his books and CD?

Each reader is encouraged to develop their own beliefs about the following, not simply take on those of the author.

*   You are your own best teacher, especially when learning about who you are and what is important to you

* The best way of finding stress relief is through simple practices you can do on your own

*   The only hells are those we create through unproductive action and thought

*   We are all connected with each other in a way that the mind cannot understand.

Some things were meant to be mysteries.

*  Most religions are spiritually counter-productive (This can be side-stepped for your group, if you wish!

Just know that there is direct content of this type in the books.)

*  Evolving spiritually requires discipline, risk and courage

*  Since we have been conditioned to live in ways that are not generally productive to our happiness and              contentment, it takes focus and repetition to integrate new ideas and ways of living that work better

What is the newest book?

Carlo's newest is "The Wake Up Book".

What does "Seventh Direction" mean?

From the preface of the book:

Among the beautiful spiritual traditions of many Native American tribes, seven directions are recognized.  In addition to the standard four are added Above

(Sky) and Below (Earth).  The Seventh

Direction is the most challenging

and rewarding of any that we

might take our

attention:

Within.

When you allow it, this book can be your framework to discover the depth of this wondrous and powerful direction.

More from the Preface:

“What am I here for?  What is the point of living?”

There are no other questions as important to answer.

Unless you have come very far on your spiritual path, if you read my reflections on these questions below, chances are strong that you will view it with the egoic mind that you may think defines you.

As you read this now, your egoic self may already be getting cranky, ready to reject what is written here, ready for a nap, some ice cream, a romance novel, some mindless television or another distraction .

Ego has no interest in exploring the spiritual path.  Ego thinks the present is to be avoided and rejected.

“More! More! More!”  This is the cry of the ego.  More money, more sex, more silly excuses for more silly ‘foods’, more people to tell me how wonderful I am, more people whom I can manipulate so that I can feel good about myself.

“Less! Less! Less!”  This is also the cry of the ego.  Less pain, less body weight,  a boss who is less mean, a lover who is less angry.

The egoic mind is rarely satisfied.  For it, there is never enough of what is wanted.  There is never so little of what is not wanted for it to be content.

So for our imaginary egoic selves, perverted little non-beings that the “are”, satisfaction is impossible.  Success is never complete enough for ego.

My suggestion for your consideration is that you are not your egoic mind.  You are heart/soul-centered.  If you choose to read the rest of this preface with that as at least a temporary supposition, then you may find powerful inspiration in these words.

I know at the deepest depth of my being I am a fully loving being.  I deeply sense that what I, and all of us, came into this life to do is to realize our loving  nature and to live it.

I am in the process of doing that.  Some have achieved it and become fully loving beings.    It is not about overcoming anything.  It is simply about realizing and practicing, more and more consistently, until each and every one of us realize that we are, in deed and in thought, completely loving beings.

Until one sees oneself as imprisoned, one cannot be released from our own prisons.  Until we can see ourselves creating a happy, loving, harmonious society, we will not see that society.

By more deeply recognizing the fullness of our loving nature, we also declare the truth that the worldly power brokers fight daily to keep us from knowing: that we are divine.  A united, loving divinity swallows any apparently negative forces.  The negative forces only have apparent power as the masses of humanity grant them via fear, doubt and a sense of unworthiness.

There is nothing more important for us to do in this life than to recognize the infinite nature of the power of Love to heal and unite.  As more and more of us fully recognize this, we heal our Selves and our world.

I have developed a simple system, as presented in “The Wake Up Book” and the “Quick Retreats” CD, to help people unfold their loving nature.  After over five decades on this planet, the vast majority of which I have resisted my loving nature, I am using this system to help myself evolve.

I believe with all my heart that anyone with an open mind and the courage to delve into their inner Self regularly, can accelerate the advent of our collective awakening by more rapidly unfolding their Loving Self.

This is the ambitious intent of The Wake Up Book.

This book will be helpful to you only if you are willing to be guided by your own heart.

What kind of radio voice does Carlo have?

Carlo has a deep and powerful voice.  People keep telling him that he ought to be a deejay.  For a sample, click here.

Jpeg images

Tell me about Carlo's personal presentations

Carlo offers presentations to groups of all sizes and age groups.  Most of the time spent with these presentations finds the audience in silent contemplation; several Pause Sessions are incorporated into each presentation.  Currently, Carlo works primarily in the Southern California and Arizona areas.  If you are outside of this area, please call to see if a presentation may be arranged for your group.  A calendar will be available in the Resources Section of this blog starting in July, 2010.

Presentation emphasis can be placed on the Pause Sessions or more specifically on simple practices one can do independently for stress relief.

What are the fees for such presentations?

At this time, Carlo does not charge any fees for his presentations as long as he is allowed to make his books and CDs available to the audience at the end of the presentation or after any following spiritual services.  For further information, please call or write.

How do I book Carlo Ami for an interview or presentation?

You may reach Carlo directly by phone at 760-990-1630 or write This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Non-religious self-reliance: It is not a phrase you hear much.  This is what this article asks you to consider for yourself.  Is it time for you to consider letting go of your religion, time to ask, "Why not me?" when figuring out who should be responsible for your own beliefs?  Isn't this what the "new age" is really all about--trusting our own loving power?  Explore this article to see how you might free yourself from conditioned beliefs that may not serve you.

We talked in the first article in this series about all the reasons we stay with whatever religion we were raised with or that we find ourselves involved with now.  In this article, the reasons to shift away from any dogmatic religious beliefs will be explored.

Why would we not look within the self to discover spiritual beliefs rather than simply stick with status quo, the surely easier road at almost any time?  Communally, we have never learned to trust ourselves.  And that has been the agenda of most religion.

The purpose of any truly worthwhile religion would be to unite and empower its followers.  Nearly all of the world’s religions today do the polar opposite with their teachings and example: they sap the spiritual strength of their membership and separate us from each other.  Some would point to Buddhism as an exception.  It is not a religion in the common sense of the word as it has no dogma, no belief in a fiery eternal fate for non-believers, no Big and Wrathful Being hanging out in the clouds to judge us.

Our planet’s people are now in the process of letting go of most of what we call religion.  Bravo for us!  Religion as we know it has been sapping the spiritual life out of its members for centuries.  It keeps its followers stupid, shamed and fearful that they could become skewered on the fire of God’s eternal barbeque.

We might re-think the validity of any given religion if there were the slightest reliable evidence to support it.  There is none.  We have writings by those who lived way before our time that believers ascribe to being the word of a supreme being.  Why would we put our faith in such writings?  Even within the Biblical and Islamic texts, the various books within them are loaded with contradictions.  Religious scholars can find all kinds of “answers” for these contradictions, but there are so many of them that they simply cannot be explained away

If you take even a brief look at how the Catholics have gutted the Bible of spiritually powerful content over the years, you cannot fail to come to the conclusion that their editing was much more about controlling its followers than about nurturing them.

Many Muslims will tell you that they are a peaceful people.  Is it surprising, then, that their “holy” book prescribes violence and death on those who are not Muslim?  The major Christian religions suggest that they, too, have a loving and tolerant way despite provable history: the Crusades, the Inquisition, the church’s silence while Hitler slaughtered Jews, their silence and hiding as their priests abuse children.

Today, we see the Jewish nation of Israel treating Palestinians like vermin, much like the Christian invaders of the Americas did to the Native American population.  One would think that after so long a time of feeling persecuted, the Jewish people would have learned some compassion.  It does not appear that they have done so.  We disrespect others based on the color of their skin, or whether they can speak our language or believe in the same god we do.  This is counter to anything that could be called religious.

Do we think that the Catholic Church’s problems with sexual behavior on the part of their clergy is a relatively recent thing?  The first pope, Peter, was married and most Catholic clergy were allowed to marry long after the  time of Christ.  “Nothing is so powerful in drawing the spirit of a man downwards as the caresses of a woman”, wrote St. Augustine.  And this became part of Catholic ways.  At depth, we know that there are few things as spiritually empowering to a man than the loving caress of a partner.  While churches pretend to empower, they suck the energy out of their followers by fomenting guilt, shame and fear of eternal torture.

The psychological truism that the Church leaders have never figured out is this: That which you suppress will express itself in spades.  It does not take a Freud to figure out why priests abuse others, particularly defenseless children, sexually.  They have been required to suppress natural sexual instinct.  If one is not allowed to express sex in an acceptable way, it will often find a way to express itself perversely.

They fought over the issue of clergy marriage for centuries.  Some popes fathered children while others engaged the services of prostitutes, even during times priests were not allowed to marry.  Eleventh Century Pope Urban II, decreed that the wives of Catholic clergy be sold into slavery and that their children be abandoned to the streets.  How Christian!

A ninth century Catholic council openly admitted that abortions and killing of infants were being practiced in convents and monasteries to hide the  promiscuous activities of the frocked.  We make excuses for the church, despite the mounting number of proven cases.  We witness evidence that the church leaders prioritized the reputation of the church over that of the protection of the sexual purity of children in suppressing information about abuses.  And they did this while transferring around the predators geographically so they could abuse more children.  What more evidence is needed to see the church for what it is?

Such corruption is not limited to the Catholic Church.  They are evidenced in virtually all the major religions.  What might this truth be teaching us?  Maybe what is to be learned is that we are better served to trust our own definitions and practices of spirituality and morality rather than allow it to be thrust upon us by those who have proven that they are anything but trustworthy.

Religions largely boast that they have secret knowledge about the will of God, an inside track to Salvation.  In reality, their prime intent is rather to have control of  the social and religious behavior of people via the propagation of fear and division.

Most religion tells us to not trust ourselves:  “You’re too stupid to have your own beliefs about God.  Here: believe in this book that is riddled with contradictions.  “God is Love, it says, yet it shows you His willingness to throw you into eternal fires if you mess up.  This book says love one another, but know that those who practice other religions are inferior and must be overcome by any means.  God wants you to smite these folks!

In Catholic grade school, I sat through six boring Mass ceremonies per week, much of which was in Latin at the time, so we had no idea what we were saying.   Some of the heaviest dogma was kept in English so we could brainwash ourselves with something we understood.  One that lingers in memory that was repeated in every service: “Lord, I am not worthy”.  What a numbingly stupid “prayer” that was!

Schizophrenia propagation is what it was: “You’re a child of God.  You are beautiful and wonderful, but unworthy.  You need our church to make you worthy, but be fearful of messing up, vigilant always for the devil to be tempting you into something that could damn you forever.”

Please understand my intent with this article.  I am not damning or judging anyone as bad.  My purpose with this article is not to judge or condemn, but to observe what is happening in the world.  Though you may see truth in what you have read here, I ask you to refrain from condemning anyone or any institution.  Please consider forgiving.  And please consider walking away from any institution that sucks your energy, feeds you lies and suggests that you are either inferior or superior to anyone.  We are all equals.  Extremists have taught us that crusades and suicide bombers do not solve anything.  They simply feed the fires of fear or arrogance.  As Gandhi said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

We are now faced with a time when we are being challenged to communally trust ourselves to make our own spiritual choices, and to live consistently with them.  We are being challenged to see that we are worthy of lives of loving happiness and contentment.  It is time for us to see that no outside authority is required to grant us permission, forgiveness or the keys to some pearly gate.  We forgive and allow ourselves.

The time has come to think for ourselves, but in a new way that can take some getting used to: we are being asked to think with heart.

Thinking with our egoic heads has gotten us to where we are now, when religious differences and the importance we have placed upon them have us fighting on fronts all over the planet.  It is ignorant!  Thinking with the heart is what we are faced with doing---leaving the head out of the matter!

How does one think with the heart?  There are abundant techniques and tools, yet simply being aware of your heart when responding to any life experiences is a great start.  Ask yourself, “What is the loving way to respond to what I am experiencing?”

Maybe most importantly in the intent to live from the heart is this: Remember that anything that is called “power” is not really power at all unless it is based in love.  Today, the terms “power” and “love”, as Dr. Martin Luther King observed, have been seen as polar opposites.

As we move more and more quickly towards an era of harmony, and as old institutions like religion are fast fading away, one of the best reminders about where we are going comes from Jimi Hendrix, the guitar legend of the 1960s:

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.”

Peace.  Why not me?

Peace is at hand.  All we are challenged to do is to trust it, believe it.  You and I and all of Us are worthy of it.